Doped aluminum nitride crystals and methods of making them

ABSTRACT

Fabrication of doped AlN crystals and/or AlGaN epitaxial layers with high conductivity and mobility is accomplished by, for example, forming mixed crystals including a plurality of impurity species and electrically activating at least a portion of the crystal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/225,999, filed Mar. 26, 2014 now U.S. Pat. No. 9,525,032,which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/642,182,filed Dec. 18, 2009 now U.S. Pat. No. 8,747,552, which is a continuationof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/633,667, filed Dec. 4, 2006 nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,641,735, which claims the benefits of and priority toU.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/741,701, filed on Dec. 2, 2005,the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

This invention was made with United States Government support under70NANB4H3051 awarded by the National Institute of Standards andTechnology (NIST). The United States Government has certain rights inthe invention.

BACKGROUND

Semiconductor materials exhibit controllable optical and electricalproperties, such as conductivity, over a wide range. Such control isenabled by use of dopants, which are impurities introduced into thecrystalline lattice of the semiconductor material to serve as sources ofelectrons (negative charges) or holes (positive charges). Controllabledoping enables the fabrication of a wide range of semiconductor devices,e.g., light-emitting diodes (LEDs), lasers, and transistors.

Nitride-based semiconductors such as gallium nitride (GaN) and aluminumnitride (AlN) are of great interest technologically, in part because oftheir wide bandgaps. Controllable and repeatable doping of thesematerials enables the fabrication of light-emitting devices, such asLEDs and lasers, that emit light at short wavelengths, i.e., at blue,violet, and even ultraviolet wavelengths. Moreover, n- and p-typenitrides can be utilized in the fabrication of transistors suited forhigh power and/or high temperature applications. In an n-typesemiconductor, the concentration of electrons is much higher then theconcentration of holes; accordingly, electrons are majority carriers anddominate conductivity. In a p-type semiconductor, by contrast, holesdominate conductivity.

Making p-type nitride semiconductor materials can be difficultgenerally, and obtaining conductive crystals or epitaxial layers ofp-type aluminum nitride (AlN), or of Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N alloys with high Alcontent, has posed particular challenges. Adding carbon and oxygen toAlN causes it to turn blue, which means it absorbs in the red (unlikemore typical AlN, grown without added impurities, which tends to absorbin the blue due to N vacancies). Some conductivity measurements havesuggested that the blue crystal is p-type while other work has castdoubt on the possibility of making p-type AlN at all. The acceptorlevels from most substitutional dopants in AlN will tend to be ratherdeep in the energy bandgap, making it difficult to achieve reasonableconductivity levels unless high concentrations of the dopant are used.Unfortunately, the solubility of a single p-type impurity atom tends tobe rather low, and tendency of the crystal to form charge compensatingvacancy defects will be high.

In any case, the only p-type AlN materials produced to date haveinvolved small crystals, only a few millimeters (mm) in size, grown inthe laboratory. N-type doping of nitride materials also presentsdifficulties. Thus, success in creating large, conductive crystals hasproven elusive.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Brief Summary of the Invention

The present invention facilitates formation of large-scale (e.g., insome embodiments, having diameters of at least 1 cm) doped AlN crystals.The dopants may be n-type and/or p-type, and following electricalactivation, the crystal will exhibit sufficient conductivity and/ormobility characteristics to support formation of commercial devices.

In accordance with the present invention, an acceptor level is createdwithin the perfect, stoichiometric AlN or AlGaN lattice by introducing asubstitutional impurity that has one fewer electron than aluminum (Al)or nitrogen (N). Charge-compensating defects such as vacancies on the Nanion site (designated as V_(N)) or impurities with an extra electronare desirably avoided but, more generally, are either reduced in densityor less active. In order to use atoms that have nearly the same diameteras Al or N and avoid local strain, dopants are preferably selected fromthe upper part of the periodic table. Choices for the Al site includeberyllium (Be), magnesium (Mg), and zinc (Zn) while carbon (C) is onechoice for the N site. Dopants such as lithium (Li) with two fewerelectrons than Al may also be used to make p-type AlN and AlGaN.

The p-type doping of AlN and AlGaN may be accomplished by theintroduction of a single substitutional impurity such as Be, Mg, Zn, Lior C into the AlN lattice. This general method is called mono-doping. Itis typically followed by a treatment of the crystal to electricallyactivate the impurity species.

Accordingly, in a first aspect, the invention features a method offorming a doped AlN crystal including forming a mixed crystal containingAlN and a plurality of impurity species, and electrically activating atleast one impurity species in at least a portion of the mixed crystal.In an embodiment, the mixed crystal is sliced into a plurality of wafersprior to the step of electrically activating. After the step ofelectrically activating, the doped AlN crystal may have a conductivitygreater than approximately 10⁻⁵ Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹, or even greater thanapproximately 3×10⁻³ Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹, and/or a mobility greater thanapproximately 25 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ at room temperature.

Embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the followingfeatures. Prior to electrical activation, the mixed crystal may have aconductivity less than approximately 10⁻² Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ at room temperature,and after electrical activation, the doped AlN crystal may be n-type orp-type. The plurality of impurity species may include a substitutionaldopant, for example, C, O, Be, Mg, Zn, or Si. The plurality of impurityspecies may include an interstitial dopant, for example, Li, and thestep of electrically activating may include at least one of annealing,immersing in molten metal, or applying a voltage to at least a portionof the mixed crystal. Such a step may result in the extraction of theinterstitial dopant from at least a portion of the mixed crystal.

The plurality of impurity species may include at least one donor and atleast one acceptor. In an embodiment, the at least one donor and the atleast one acceptor occupy a cation lattice site. The at least one donorincludes Si and the at least one acceptor includes Be, Mg, or Zn. Inanother embodiment, the at least one donor and the at least one acceptoroccupy an anion lattice site. The at least one donor includes O and theat least one acceptor includes C. In various embodiments, the step ofelectrically activating includes annealing.

In another aspect, the invention features a method of forming a p-typeAlN crystal including forming a mixed crystal containing AlN and asource of substitutional impurities, and electrically activating atleast some of the substitutional impurities.

Embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the followingfeatures. The source of substitutional impurities may include Be₃N₂. Thestep of electrically activating at least a portion of the substitutionalimpurities may include converting Be₃N₂ to Be₃N₃, and may includesubjecting the mixed crystal to a pressure of less than approximately100 MPa and a temperature of less than approximately 2300° C. in anitrogen ambient. Alternatively or in addition, the source ofsubstitutional impurities may include at least one of Mg₃N₂, Zn₃N₂,Li₃N, BeO, BeSiN₂, LiBeN, Be₂C, MgSiN₂, LiSi₂N₃, LiMgN, or LiZnN.

In still another aspect, the invention features a doped AlN crystal witha thickness at least approximately 0.1 mm, a diameter at leastapproximately 1 cm, and a conductivity greater than approximately 10⁻⁵Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ at room temperature. The conductivity may be greater thanapproximately 3×10⁻³ Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ at room temperature. The AlN crystal mayhave a mobility greater than approximately 25 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ at roomtemperature. The diameter may be at least approximately 2 cm. The AlNcrystal may include at least two substitutional dopants selected fromthe group consisting of C, O, Be, Mg, Zn, and Si.

In yet another aspect, the invention features a doped, p-type AlNcrystal with a mobility greater than approximately 25 cm² Ω⁻¹ s⁻¹ atroom temperature. The AlN crystal may include at least at least twosubstitutional dopants selected from the group consisting of C, O, Be,Mg, Zn, and Si.

Another aspect of the invention features a doped, n-type single-crystalAlN structure with a thickness of at least approximately 0.1 mm and adiameter of at least approximately 1 cm. The mobility of the AlNstructure may be greater than approximately 25 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ at roomtemperature. The AlN crystal may include at least two substitutionaldopants selected from the group consisting of C, O, Be, Mg, Zn, and Si.

In another aspect, the invention features a doped, single-crystal AlNstructure with the dimensions of at least 2 mm by 2 mm by 1 mm and aconductivity greater than approximately 10⁻⁵ Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ at roomtemperature. The AlN crystal may include at least two substitutionaldopants selected from the group consisting of C, O, Be, Mg, Zn, and Si.

In another aspect, the invention features a doped, p-type AlGaNepitaxial layer having an Al concentration greater than approximately50% and a conductivity greater than approximately 10⁻⁵ Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ at roomtemperature. The conductivity may be greater than approximately 3×10⁻³Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ at room temperature. The epitaxial layer may have a mobilitygreater than approximately 25 cm² V⁻¹ S⁻¹ at room temperature. In anembodiment, the epitaxial layer includes at least two substitutionaldopants selected from the group consisting of C, O, Be, Mg, Zn, and Si.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer to the sameparts throughout the different views. Also, the drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed uponillustrating the principles of the invention. In the followingdescription, various embodiments of the present invention are describedwith reference to the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 schematically depicts a crystal growth enclosure for the growthof single-crystalline AlN;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a process for forming doped AlN according tomany embodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a process for forming doped AlN according toother embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, AlN crystals can be formed by thesublimation-recondensation method as described in U.S. Pat. No.6,770,135, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated byreference. Crystal growth enclosure 100 includes a vapor mixture 110, anAlN crystal 120, and polycrystalline source 130, and is surrounded byfurnace 140. In an embodiment, crystal growth enclosure 100 includestungsten. In alternative embodiments, crystal growth enclosure 100includes a tungsten-rhenium alloy, rhenium, carbon, tantalum carbide,tantalum nitride, tantalum carbo-nitride, hafnium nitride, mixtures oftungsten and tantalum, or a combination thereof, as described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/822,336, the entire disclosure of whichis herein incorporated by reference.

Vapor mixture 110 arises from the heating of polycrystalline source 130at one end of crystal growth enclosure 100, and coalesces into AlNcrystal 120 at another, cooler end. AlN crystal 120 may include finiteconcentrations of interstitial or substitutional impurities. Uponfurther treatment, the impurities can be electrically activated to dopeAlN crystal 120 and provide it with desirable electrical properties. Inall embodiments described herein, AlN crystal 120 may also includegallium (Ga), rendering it an AlGaN crystal. For example, Ga may beadded to polycrystalline source 130 such that the crystal coalesces asAlGaN. In such a case, the crystal may have an Al concentration greaterthan approximately 50%. AlN crystal 120 may have a thickness of greaterthan approximately 0.1 mm and a diameter greater than approximately 1cm. The diameter may even be greater than approximately 2 cm.

FIG. 2 illustrates a process 200 for forming a p-type AlN crystal. Instep 220, AlN crystal 120, a mixed crystal containing AlN and a sourceof substitutional or interstitial impurities (i.e., at least one speciesof dopants), is formed by sublimation-recondensation at a temperature ofapproximately 2000° C. to approximately 2300° C. The source of theplurality of substitutional impurities is Be₃N₂, Mg₃N₂, Zn₃N₂, Li₃N,BeO, BeSiN₂, LiBeN, Be₂C, MgSiN₂, LiSi₂N₃, LiMgN, LiZnN, or anothersuitable material. The corresponding substitutional impurities includeBe, Mg, Zn, O, or others. The compound Be₃N₂ melts at about 2200° C. anddecomposes in 1 bar of N₂ at ˜2250° C. to liquid Be+N₂. The metal Beboils at 2970° C. The compound Mg₃N₂ decomposes in 1 bar of N₂ at 800 to900° C. Magnesium melts at 649° C. and boils at 1090° C. In step 230, atleast a portion of the plurality of substitutional or interstitialimpurities inside AlN crystal 120 is electrically activated. In anembodiment, Be₃N₂ is converted to Be₃N₃ by a high pressure treatment ina nitrogen ambient, thus electrically activating the Be dopant.Pressures of N₂ up to 100 MPa at temperatures up to 2,300° C. and timesup to several weeks may be needed. The human toxicity of Be, however,must be borne in mind for commercial applications. In step 240, AlNcrystal 120 is sliced into wafers through the use of a wire saw or adiamond annular saw for direct use, or for subsequent epitaxial growthof semiconductor layers and/or device integration thereon.

The doping of AlN may also be accomplished by introducing two or moredifferent elements into the crystal during or after growth. Using twoelements is herein referred to as bi-doping; for three elements it istermed tri-doping. The bi-doping approach can be divided into twoclasses.

The first class is “asymmetric bi-doping” (ABD) in which the twoimpurities represent a donor element and an acceptor element, and areintroduced in approximately equal concentrations. However, at highconcentrations, the interaction between the donors is different fromthat between the acceptors. This difference in the formation ofmany-body states such as impurity bands and impurity complexes inaddition to the activation energies of the isolated single atomimpurities is the source of the asymmetry. The donor-acceptor pairspreferably have special properties. Suitable compounds that act assources for the plurality of impurities include MgSiN₂ and BeSiN₂. InMgSiN₂ or BeSiN₂ the Mg or Be acceptors occupy the Al cation latticesite as do the compensating Si donors. Thus, they do not form nearestneighbor pairs in the lattice, and net doping (and hence highconductivity) results.

In the case of MgSiN₂ the donors and acceptors do not pair up at thehigh growth temperature. At doping levels above 10¹⁸ cm⁻³, the Mg, Be,or Si species start to form impurity bands where the holes on the Mg orBe can move from one impurity atom to the nearest identical impurityatom to form a p-type sub-band. When one of the impurity species is Siatoms, the Si wavefunction overlap can form an n-type sub-band. Theresultant, doped AlN crystal can be either n-type or p-type depending onwhich sub-band forms first as the dopant concentration increases.Preferably, impurity species concentrations greater than approximately10¹⁸ cm⁻³ are introduced, and, even more preferably, concentrations upto 2×10²² cm⁻³ are introduced. One suitable impurity species source,BeSiN₂, is infinitely soluble in solid AlN. (See G. Schneider, L. J.Gauckler, and G. Petzow, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., Vol. 63, p. 32 (1980), theentire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.)Likewise, MgSiN₂ has a high solubility in AlN. Since Si is a shallowdonor in AlN and Mg is a deeper acceptor, AlN doped with MgSiN₂ isgenerally n-type.

Another example of the ABD method of making p-type AlN is to place thetwo different impurities on the N anion lattice sites in AlN. This canbe accomplished by making mixed crystals of AlN with Al₂OC. The solidsolubility of Al₂OC in AlN is as large as 3×10²² cm⁻³ for both oxygenand carbon. See C. Qui and R. Metselaar, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., Vol. 80, p.2013 (1997) (“the Qui reference”), the entire disclosure of which ishereby incorporated by reference. In this case, the point defect sourcesare Al₂O₃ and Al₄C₃. The gas ambient may include CO, Al₂O, AlCN orvarious mixtures of these three gases, and the substitutional impuritiesmay include C and O.

Carbon may be preferred as a p-type dopant for AlN due to its lowtoxicity. The compound Al₄C₃ exists as yellow crystals. In an inertgraphite crucible, it peritectically decomposes at 2156° C. In 100 kPaof N₂ above 1500° C., it does not exist: the Al₄C₃ reacts with N₂ toform AlN and C. Crystals of AlN can be grown by thesublimation—recondensation method in 100 kPa of N₂ at 2000° C. to 2300°C. in carbon (graphite) crucibles. They grow well, are yellow in color,and contain hundreds of small, black graphite flakes per cm³ distributedthroughout the crystal. The main carbon transport vapor molecule isAlCN. The excess carbon comes out of solution as the crystal anneals athigh temperature. The growing time at temperature is approximately 150hours. These crystals do not conduct electricity at room temperature,possibly because the relatively small amount of C which is introducedinto the N lattice site as a substitutional impurity is compensated by Nvacancies.

Carbon can be introduced as a substitutional impurity on the nitrogensites very effectively by employing the compound Al₂OC. The compoundAl₂OC exists and has almost the same crystal structure as AlN. It ismiscible in the solid state with AlN at high temperature from zero toabout 40 mole % Al₂OC. Both N₂ and CO molecules contain 14 electrons.Crystals of Al₂OC themselves are non-conducting. The oxygen impurityenters as a deep donor (on the nitrogen site) and appears to compensatethe shallower carbon acceptor. An important factor in successfullygrowing Al₂OC-doped crystals is properly heat-treating them during orafter growth to get a uniform, bulk electrical conductivity. Thisexample of ABD depends on the fact that the C acceptor level issignificantly shallower than the O donor level and, thus, the Al₂OCcompound will effectively act as a p-type dopant at high dopingconcentrations.

The second class of bi-doping is also asymmetric in the sense that oneimpurity is substitutional while the other is interstitial. Examples ofsome useful compounds for bi-doping AlN are LiBeN, LiMgN, and LiZnN. Theelements Be, Mg, and Zn will tend to go into the AlN crystal assubstitutional impurities while Li will tend to be an interstitialimpurity. As an interstitial impurity, the Li atom will be relativelymobile in the AlN lattice. Thus, AlN crystal doped with LiBeN may beelectrically activated by extracting the Li ions and leaving the Be inplace, resulting in a p-type, electrically conducting semiconductor. Theextraction can be carried out by heating the doped AlN crystal undervacuum to evaporate the Li, by immersing the crystal or crystal slicesin a liquid gallium (Ga) or indium (In) molten-metal bath, or bydrifting the Li to the surface in an applied direct-current (DC)electric field. The Be acceptors (or Mg or Zn) are either isolated,uncompensated acceptors or at higher concentrations form a p-typesub-band. This method of making conducting AlN is termedextraction-activated bi-doping (EABD). Again, the bi-doping permits theAlN to be doped to very high levels of impurity content, which is oftennot possible with mono-doping employing Be, Mg or Zn by themselves.

Another application of the EABD method of making p-type AlN involvesfabrication of an AlN mixed crystal with the compound LiSi₂N₃. The Li,which is in this case a substitutional impurity on that Al cationlattice site, is then extracted as indicated above to leave an AlNcrystal doped with V_(Al)Si₂N₃ (i.e., there are two Si atoms on Al sitesfor every one Al vacancy). This leaves the crystal as a net p-typesemiconductor. However, care should be taken to avoid annealing out toomany of the aluminum vacancies (V_(Al)) during this process (by going,for instance, to too high a temperature) since a crystal doped withV_(Al)Si₃N₄ (i.e., three Si atoms for every one V_(Al)) would becompletely compensated and would not conduct at low dopingconcentrations.

FIG. 3 illustrates an alternate process 300 for forming a doped AlNcrystal. In step 320, AlN crystal 120, a mixed crystal containing AlNand a plurality of impurity species (i.e., different types of dopantatoms), is formed by sublimation-recondensation at a temperature ofapproximately 2000° C. to approximately 2300° C. The impurity speciesmay include substitutional dopants such as C, O, Be, Mg, Zn, and Si,and/or interstitial dopants such as Li. The impurity species may beintroduced by utilizing a compound such as MgSiN₂, BeSiN₂, Al₂OC, LiBeN,LiMgN, LiZnN, or LiSi₂N₃ (i.e., a source of one or more impurityspecies) as a portion of polycrystalline source 130, or by introducinggaseous precursors thereof to vapor mixture 110 such that AlN crystal120 includes the compound and/or impurity species of interest. At thispoint, prior to electrical activation, AlN crystal 120 may have a lowelectrical conductivity, e.g., less than approximately 10⁻² Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ atroom temperature, because the plurality of impurity species maycompensate each other. AlN crystal 120 may even have an electricalconductivity less than approximately 10⁻⁵ Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹.

In order to obtain very high concentrations of C on the N anion site inthe AlN, a mixed polycrystalline material may be made with 0.1 to 50mole % of Al₂OC and 99.9 to 50 mole % of AlN. The mixed polycrystallinematerial is then used as polycrystalline source 130 for growing dopedAlN crystals. The mixed polycrystalline source material could be formedby mixing appropriate ratios of AlN and Al₂OC powders and sintering.However, the Al₂OC structure is rather unstable when pure, and is beststabilized by making mixed crystals of it with AlN. This can be doneunder carefully controlled conditions which take advantage of thethermodynamic properties of Al₄C₃, AlN, and Al₂O₃.

One such approach to make AlN—Al₂OC polycrystalline material is to addAl₂O₃ powder to the Al—N—C mix (specifically, either (i) AlN plus Cpowders, or (ii) AlN, C and Al powders, or (iii) AlN and Al₄C₃ powders)and heat it in order to incorporate a relatively high concentration ofAl₂OC into the AlN. This reaction is preferably carried out in thetemperature range 1700° C. to 2000° C. where Al₂OC is thermodynamicallystable (see, for example, the Qui reference and Y. Larrere, et al., Rev.Int. Hautes Temp. Refract. Fr., Vol. 21, p. 3 (1984), the entiredisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference). We cancalculate that the highest pressure for stability at 2000° C. is about 1bar. The Al₂O₃ plus Al—N—C powders can be cold pressed and then sinteredin a threaded-top graphite cylinder at temperatures up to 1990° C.However, the sintering will produce a somewhat porous sample so it isbetter to hot-press the powders in a tightly sealed graphite die for 2to 3 hours at about 1900° C. The sealing prevents the gases from leakingout of the pressing die and altering the chemical composition. The useof reactive hot-pressing takes advantage of the 5% volume shrinkage inthe reaction of Al₂O₃ with Al₄C₃ to form Al₂OC. It is desirable to coolthe mix under pressure to prevent back-reaction. The hot-pressing yieldssamples with >98.5% of theoretical density as has been shown by S. Y.Kuo and A. V Virkar, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., Vol. 73, p. 2640 (1990), theentire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

Growth of AlN crystals with doped polycrystalline material is desirablyundertaken with careful attention to the type of crystal growthenclosure 100. For instance, with the use of AlN—Al₂OC polycrystallinestarting material, it may be preferable to use a crystal growthenclosure 100 made of TaC or graphite (C).

In an embodiment, the plurality of impurity species includes at leastone donor and at least one acceptor. Furthermore, such pairs of impurityspecies may occupy either cation or anion lattice sites in the AlNlattice. For example, the compound Al₂OC may act as a source of donorspecies O and acceptor species C, both of which occupy anion (N) latticesites. In contrast, compounds such as BeSiN₂, MgSiN₂, and ZnSiN₂ may actas sources of donor species Si and acceptor species Be, Mg, and Zn, allof which occupy cation (Al) lattice sites.

With continued reference to FIG. 3, combinations of interstitial andsubstitutional impurity species may also be introduced in step 320. Forexample, compounds such as LiBeN, LiMgN, or LiZnN may supply Li as aninterstitial impurity and species such as Be, Mg, Zn, or Si assubstitutional impurities. In this case, the presence of both theinterstitial impurity and the substitutional impurity may leave AlNcrystal 120 substantially intrinsic until the interstitial impurity isextracted in subsequent step 340 (described below). Another example isLiSi₂N₃ doping, in which both the Li and Si will be substitutionalimpurities on the Al cation site. Thus, AlN crystal 120 may have a lowelectrical conductivity, e.g., less than approximately 10⁻² Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ atroom temperature, until the much more mobile substitutional Li impurityis extracted in subsequent step 340 (described below). AlN crystal 120may even have an electrical conductivity less than approximately 10⁻⁵Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ at this stage.

In an embodiment, the source of O impurities is Al₂O₃, which suppliespoint defects in the form of Al vacancies and substitutional O to AlNcrystal 120. The Al₂O₃ point defect source provides Al vacancies becausethe Al₂O₃ actually dissolves as Al₂V_(Al)O₃, where V_(A1) denotes one Alvacancy. At the growing temperature of 2300° C. and at lowconcentrations of Al₂O₃, the O atoms will be randomly distributed on theN sites and the Al vacancies are randomly distributed on the Al sites.During slow cooling, the O atoms may tend to cluster around the Alvacancies because they are slightly larger in diameter than the N atoms,resulting in a stress-relief clustering. This clustering can beprevented by rapid cooling of the crystal from the growth temperatureover a period of 30 minutes or less. The rapid cooling will result in anAlN crystal with unclustered point defects of O on the N anion latticesites and Al vacancies.

In optional step 330, AlN crystal 120, now including at least oneimpurity species, is sliced into wafers. In optional step 335, anepitaxial layer is deposited on at least one wafer of AlN crystal 120.The epitaxial layer may include AlN, GaN, InN, or alloys or mixturesthereof. The epitaxial layer may have an Al concentration greater than50%. (Thus, for an Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N epitaxial layer, x may be greaterthan 0.5.) During step 335, the epitaxial layer may be doped with atleast one impurity species, e.g., O. The epitaxial layer may have athickness of approximately 0.5 micrometers (μm) to 200 μm. In step 340,at least one impurity species in at least a portion of AlN crystal 120(and/or in an epitaxial layer deposited thereon), now optionally inwafer form, is electrically activated to form a doped crystal. Thecrystal (and/or epitaxial layer deposited thereon) may have a net n-typeor p-type doping level after electrical activation. Electricalactivation may be accomplished by, for example, annealing AlN crystal120 a temperature range of approximately 2000° C. to approximately 2300°C.

When an interstitial impurity species has been introduced in step 320,step 340 may include methods of extracting the interstitial impurityspecies while leaving one or more substitutional impurity speciesactivated in AlN crystal 120. In such an embodiment, step 340 mayinclude annealing AlN crystal 120 in a vacuum at a temperature above300° C. but below 1600° C. (to avoid excessive damage to the AlN hostcrystal) to evaporate the interstitial impurity species, immersing AlNcrystal 120 or wafers therefrom in a liquid gallium (Ga) or indium (In)molten-metal bath, or applying a voltage to AlN crystal 120 in order todrift the interstitial impurity species to the surface.

Step 340 may include annealing in an ambient which may supply at leastone additional impurity species to AlN crystal 120. In an embodiment,AlN crystal 120 is annealed at a temperature range of approximately2000° C. to approximately 2300° C. In the case of an O impurity, thetemperature is chosen so as to prevent clustering or to redissolve theO—V_(Al) clusters. The ambient is an atmosphere of, e.g., 90% N₂+10% COat 30 bars, and the anneal time is, e.g., 24 hours with longer timesneeded for thicker wafers. Some of the CO diffuses into the crystalwhile some nitrogen and oxygen diffuse out. Thus, the anneal stepincorporates C, an additional impurity species, into AlN crystal 120.Similarly, if an epitaxial layer is present on a wafer of AlN crystal120, such an anneal may supply an additional impurity species to theepitaxial layer. Thus, the epitaxial layer may include a plurality ofimpurity species, at least one of which is electrically activated.

Once step 340 is complete, AlN crystal 120 and/or an epitaxial layerdeposited thereon may have desirable electrical characteristics. Theseinclude, for example, an electrical conductivity greater thanapproximately 10⁻⁵ Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ at room temperature, or even greater thanapproximately 3×10⁻³ Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ at room temperature. The electricalconductivity may even be greater than approximately 0.1 Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ at roomtemperature. The mobility of AlN crystal 120 and/or an epitaxial layerdeposited thereon may be greater than approximately 25 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ atroom temperature.

The result is a quaternary crystal which is predominately AlN but withhigh concentrations of O and C on the N lattice sites. It will also havea certain concentration of Al vacancies (V_(Al)) due to excess O. Duringslow cooling, some of the excess O may again cluster about the Alvacancies but the C atoms, being less mobile than the O atoms, do not.The C is in, and stays in solution on the N sites and the Cconcentration is comparable or greater than the O concentration. AlNcrystal 120 is now a good p-type conductor (conductivity σ>3×10⁻³ cm⁻¹at room temperature). In preferred embodiments, AlN crystal 120 has amobility greater than 25 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ at room temperature because thehigh concentration of C creates a de-localized acceptor band while thedeeper donor levels caused by the O remain localized. Preferred AlNcrystals have dimensions exceeding 2 mm by 2 mm by 1 mm withconductivities greater than 10⁻⁵ Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ at room temperature.

The activation energy for this p-type dopant will depend on itsconcentration, but because of the high solubility of both Al₂OC andAl₂V_(Al)O₃ in AlN it is possible to make degenerately doped p-type AlNas well as lightly doped material. It is desirable that the Cconcentration exceed approximately 1×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ to achieve practicalp-type conductivities. Very high C concentrations (up to approximately2×10²² cm⁻³) are possible with this technique, and such concentrationsare useful for obtaining high p-type doping levels (and higherconductivities).

The Al₂O₃ and CO doping and annealing treatments are generally importantto control the p-type doping present. In a preferred embodiment, theatom ratio of O to C is approximately one-to-one (1:1) and a largefraction of the C is activated. If more O than this is present, therewill be fewer C centers activated, while a lower concentration of O maycause the C to precipitate out and be electrically inactive.

It will be seen that the techniques described herein provide a basis forproduction of doped crystals and epitaxial layers including AlN andAlGaN. The terms and expressions employed herein are used as terms ofdescription and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the useof such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of thefeatures shown and described or portions thereof. Instead, it isrecognized that various modifications are possible within the scope ofthe invention claimed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A bi-doped Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal having aconductivity greater than approximately 10⁻⁵ Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ at roomtemperature, the bi-doped Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal being doped with both(i) a donor species comprising at least one of Si or O and (ii) anacceptor species comprising at least one of Mg, Be, C, or Zn.
 2. TheAl_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 1, wherein the donor species comprisesSi and the acceptor species comprises at least one of Mg, Be, or Zn. 3.The Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 1, wherein the conductivity isgreater than approximately 3×10⁻³ Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ at room temperature.
 4. TheAl_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 1, wherein a mobility thereof isgreater than approximately 25 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ at room temperature.
 5. TheAl_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 1, wherein a diameter thereof is atleast approximately 1 cm.
 6. The Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 1,wherein a diameter thereof is at least approximately 2 cm.
 7. TheAl_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 1, wherein the conductivity is n-type.8. The Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 1, wherein x>0.
 9. TheAl_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 1, wherein x>0.5.
 10. TheAl_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 1, wherein a thickness thereof is atleast approximately 0.1 mm.
 11. The Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 1,wherein the donor species and the acceptor species are present atapproximately equal concentrations.
 12. The Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal ofclaim 1, wherein the Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal is disposed within asemiconductor device.
 13. The Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 1,wherein the Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal is at least a portion of anepitaxial layer disposed over a substrate.
 14. A bi-dopedAl_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal having a mobility greater than approximately 25cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ at room temperature, the bi-doped Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystalbeing doped with both (i) a donor species comprising O and (ii) anacceptor species comprising C, wherein both the donor species and theacceptor species occupy anion lattice sites in the Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)Ncrystal.
 15. The Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 14, wherein aconductivity thereof is p-type.
 16. The Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim14, wherein at least portions of the donor species and the acceptorspecies are present within the Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal as Al₂OCcompounds.
 17. The Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 14, wherein x>0. 18.The Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 14, wherein x>0.5.
 19. TheAl_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 14, wherein the donor species and theacceptor species are present at approximately equal concentrations. 20.The Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 14, wherein the Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)Ncrystal is disposed within a semiconductor device.
 21. TheAl_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 14, wherein the Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystalis at least a portion of an epitaxial layer disposed over a substrate.22. The Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 14, wherein a conductivitythereof is greater than approximately 10⁻⁵ Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ at room temperature.23. The Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N crystal of claim 14, wherein a conductivitythereof is greater than approximately 3×10⁻³ Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ at roomtemperature.